A Night at the Golden Saucer
by NataliePortman
Summary: Cloud and Tifa return to the Golden Saucer and remember the past.


Author: Chibi-Tifa  
Disclaimer: These characters do not belong to me, but to Squaresoft and blahblahblah, you know, all that legal stuff. This is a work of my imagination.  
Summary: This takes place after the ending of FF7. Tifa and Cloud return to the Golden Saucer and remember the past. To those that think Aeris and Cloud should be together, I hope this doesn't offend you or anything.  
Genre: Romance [heehee...my first stab at this genre...I'm not very good at mooshy stuff...hehe! I'll try to keep everyone in character. And if you think it sucks ass...well...umm...keep it to yourself...please? Hehe.]  
  
  
A Night at the Golden Saucer  
  
  
"It's sort of weird being back here, isn't it, Cloud?"  
  
Cloud Strife turned away from the window of the rising air lift and glanced at his childhood friend, Tifa Lockheart, his mind wandering back to reality after her inquiry. She was leaning against the far side of the small air lift, her arms crossed, a her lips curling into a wry smile.  
  
"Seeing those bright lights again...against the night sky...it's like deja vu," Tifa continued, with a sigh. Cloud wasn't sure if it was a sigh of contentment or sadness. Either way, he was feeling mixed emotions as well. Just seeing the cheerful, colorful, profusely lit Golden Saucer, he remembered Aeris Gainsborough and the date they had had in the past.  
  
Noticing his silence, Tifa asked, shedding her usual cheerful demeanor, "Cloud? You okay?"  
  
Cloud had begun to drift off in his thoughts again. "Huh? Oh. Yeah. Fine." He nodded, waving his hand as if swatting flies.  
  
Skeptical, Tifa nodded slowly. "Okay. If you say so."  
  
The air lift screeched to a halt at the Golden Saucer's port. Tifa hopped out. "Where should we go first?" She laughed. "Isn't this so weird? It feels like the old times again. Only...not..."  
  
"Yeah..." Cloud paused. "What are we doing here again?"  
  
"I thought we should have fun for a change. You know, after all we've been through. This place seemed perfect," Tifa explained. She studied Cloud's face. "I practically had to beg you to come! You're not getting too cool to hang with me, are you?" she teased, nudging him playfully.  
  
Cloud felt himself smile. "Me? Too cool for you? Naw. You sure it isn't the other way around?"  
  
"Oh, shut up." Tifa laughed.  
  
Cloud smiled.  
  
"This isn't exactly the choice location, though," Tifa admitted, "Seeing as to how it holds so many of our memories...Barret...Cait Sith...that whole Sephiroth-chasing scenario..." Her voice trailed off.  
  
"Aeris," Cloud murmured.  
  
"You sure you're okay with this?" Tifa asked again, tilting her head.  
  
"Yeah."  
  
Tifa shook her head in mock disbelief. "You're such a bad liar." She strolled over to a concession stand and bought herself cotton candy.  
  
Cloud could see how Tifa was attempting to cheer him up; and it was working considerably. But as he looked around, he couldn't help but see Aeris everywhere, in the faces of the vendors holding balloons, the people dressed like Mogs, the Chocobos--everything was reminiscent of her. He looked over at Tifa, who was smiling at him, cotton candy in hand. He decided he couldn't spend the rest of his days in a pit of depression, and that he should cheer up.  
  
"Let's go on a rollercoaster," he said finally.  
  
"That's more like it!" Tifa exclaimed, pleased. She stuffed a piece of cotton candy in her mouth. A strand of the pink sugar stuck to her upper lip, and Cloud chuckled a bit, making a motion over his mouth. "You, um...you have..."  
  
"What?" Tifa asked, puzzled.  
  
Deciding his game of charades was futile, Cloud reached out and gently wiped the cotton candy off of Tifa's lip. She immediatly flushed a deep crimson color.  
"Oh! Thanks," she said sheepishly. "Oh look! Let's go on that ride!" she added quickly, pointing at a sign.  
  
"Okay," Cloud agreed, oblivious of the fact that Tifa was flustered.  
  
They strolled over to the rollercoaster ride. Cloud handed the fellow behind the counter a few Gil.  
  
"You kids have fun," the guy said, with a mischievous grin.  
  
Cloud and Tifa slid into a seat for two, grasping on to the single steel handle bar before them.  
  
"It's such a nice night," Tifa remarked.  
  
Cloud gazed up at the sky. "It is."  
  
The ride started up. It wasn't one of those scream-your-head-off rollercoasters. It seemed to be more easygoing--Tifa was thankful for that.  
  
"Cloud, can I ask you something?" Tifa said, the wind blowing her long, brown hair back. She could taste the air.  
  
"Shoot." Cloud absently looked around at the people swarming below, the bright lights shining.  
  
"A...a personal question?" Tifa implored.  
  
Cloud diverted his gaze to Tifa. "Huh?"  
  
"It's sort of personal. Okay. Well. It's *really* personal."  
  
"Nothing's too personal for us to talk about," Cloud answered simply. They'd been best friends practically forever. He couldn't imagine what burning personal question Tifa wanted to ask him. He knew her like the back of his hand, and vice versa.  
  
Tifa hesitated. "Being here...I kind of...I kind of wondered...how did you feel after...Aeris um...died?"  
  
Cloud felt his breath catch at the difficult question Tifa had asked him. He ran his hand through his blond hair, searching for an answer in his head. He knew how he had felt. He just didn't know if he could put it into words.   
  
Feeling disoriented, he tried to regain composure, and slowly answered, "I couldn't believe it. I mean...I was right there...*right there*. I felt overwhelmed with guilt...it was--it was then that I realized...once you've lost something...it's never gonna come back. And all my life, I'd never really thought I had anything to lose. I'd never felt that way about anyone before. I couldn't adjust to the feeling that Aeris was really gone. I didn't get to say good-bye...not the way I wanted to, at least."  
  
Tifa knew it was terrible and selfish of her to feel disappointed as Cloud said "I'd never felt that way about anyone before". But she did. "Oh," she said quietly. "Cloud...how do you feel about being here?"  
  
Cloud shrugged. "I'm okay, Tifa," he insisted. "Really."  
  
"Do you think you'll ever like someone as much as you liked Aeris?" Tifa asked.  
  
"Tifa, what's with all the questions?" Cloud asked, slightly confused.  
  
"Nothing," Tifa mumbled. The ride ended, and she punched his arm playfully as she climbed off, putting on a mask of cheerfulness. "I'm starved. Let's go get a drink or a hot dog or something."  
  
Cloud could now see that Tifa was quickly changing the subject, and that something was on her mind. "Hey, what's up?" he asked, snagging her arm before she could run off towards another concession stand.  
  
"The beautiful heavens," Tifa replied, making a gesture towards the open sky.  
  
"Tifa..."  
  
"Cloud." She smiled.  
  
"What's going on?"  
  
Tifa sighed, knowing she couldn't keep on beating around the bush. "Cloud...when I saw your expression when we came to this place...I knew you felt love. You know. Love for Aeris."  
  
Cloud didn't answer. He looked down, studying the pattern on the floor.  
  
"And I wondered...is it possible for you to feel that way about me?" Tifa said, her voice straining a bit. She leaned against a rail outside of the rollercoaster ride, gazing up at the sky.  
  
"But then, it's wrong of me to wonder such a thing. You haven't let go of Aeris yet. I don't know if you ever will. And I understand. I really do," Tifa continued slowly. "Aeris was special. Not only because of her beautiful personality and the kind person she was. But because she was lucky enough to have been loved by you."  
  
Before Cloud could reply, Tifa laughed flatly. "Gosh, listen to me, Cloud, getting all soft on you," she scoffed. She looked away, blinking rapidly. I can't cry in front of him! she thought, What's wrong with you? Pull it *together*!  
  
Cloud leaned against the rail next to Tifa. "You're right," he admitted, "I haven't let go of her."  
  
Tifa was silent.  
  
"But you can teach me," Cloud said.  
  
"Teach you what?" Tifa glanced at him.  
  
"Teach me to love again."  
  
Tifa looked at him, stunned. She didn't know what that meant, or if she really did have a future with her childhood friend, Cloud Strife. But either way, he was giving her a chance.  
  
He was giving her a chance that night--that night at the Golden Saucer.  



End file.
